The Adventures of Scipio
by Marina the Great
Summary: Scipio regrets his decision to age himself. Now he must find the Carousel of the Merciful Sisters and attempt to make repairs that were said to be impossible.
1. The Note

This is a Fanfiction that is basically centered around Scipio, for obvious reasons. Ofcourse, all of the other characters are still in the fic, but, mainly, it's centered around Scipio, and his, "special friend." I do not own any of the characters of Cornelia Funke, obviously. She is just a fantastic writer, and I am simply writing a sequel to what is in my opinion, the best book ever.

Scipio looked around Victor's apartment, and placed his note on the table that served as a shelter for Victor's beloved turtles. He didn't feel the same as he used to be, so young, and so full of anticipation of becoming an adult. However, that had all changed, once he had become one, and rode on the fateful merry-go-round of the merciful sisters. And there was only one thing he could do to change his destiny: Fix and ride the carousel of the Merciful Sisters.

Scipio decided to take one last look at the note he left for Victor and everyone else.

_Dear Victor,_

_I've decided to reverse what the carousel has changed. I plan to revert to my former self, and if possible, live with you and/or Ida, considering you two could wed soon. (I'm sorry to tease you with that, but Prosper, Hornet, and I have noticed you and Ida have been becoming very close lately.)_

_Please tell everyone not to worry about me. I shall find the carousel, and hope to fix it. Also, tell them to not follow me, or attempt to aid me in this excursion. I feel that I must do it myself._

_Send my regards, I hope to see you all soon._

_Love,_

_Scipio_

_PS I especially detest that my writing and my speech have begun to sound like an adult's._

"A mediocre note perhaps, but atleast it's better than turning up missing with no trace." He thought.

And with this, he quietly exited Victor's apartment, and began on his journey.

Please, if you read this, review this! If you read this and you think that Scipio is absolutely the most interesting, romantic, dashing, charming, genius alive, please review this! (That should be all of you.) If you are a human, please review this! Thank you! Second Chapter will come soon.


	2. Marina

The cold night air struck Scipio's face like a sharp knife. Only the early morning hours of Venice could inhabit such chilling winds. Scipio ignored this and continued on his way to Signora Ida Spavento's house, where he had last docked his Father's boat. No one was usually out around this time of night, and if anyone were, then they would be deemed insane, especially during the winter months.

But tonight, Scipio would soon find out that he was not the only one who was insane.

After he had been walking for maybe five minutes, Scipio had the feeling that someone was following him. He looked around, and noticed a young lady who appeared to be crying. Alarmed by this, Scipio went to see if she was all right.

"Scusi Signora."

"Y-y-yes?" Stuttered the girl.

"Are you all right?" Asked Scipio, in a worried tone.

"Well, now I am." The girl said back, with a weak smile on her face.

Scipio gazed at her with a puzzled look. "What exactly do you mean by that, Signora?"

"Please call me Marina. And I just meant that, well, just by looking at you I felt much better. I can't really explain it. What is your name?"

Scipio took a second to answer, mainly because he was reflecting on how thankful he was that someone finally hadn't called him, "Dottor Massimo."

"Oh, um... my name is Scipio."

"I've never heard of that name." Said the girl in a pleasant demeanor.

"Well, I've never heard of the name, "Marina," but that doesn't make it any less as interesting." "Or any less beautiful." Scipio thought to himself, as he said the name to himself in his head. Suddenly, he realized that he had indeed heard the name before.

"Do I know you?" Scipio asked Marina.

"Well, I don't believe so, but, it seems as if I have meant you before. But, you can't be who I think you are."


	3. Tough Times

Scipio gave Marina yet another puzzled look.

"Who do you think I might be but couldn't be?" He asked, in aa way that confused him very much.

"Well, When I was little, maybe 4 or so, I did know someone named Scipio. But he was my age at the time. And you appear to be much older than he would be now. He was reported missing very recently. "

"I know you! We were the best of friends when we were little! You're name is Marina Montebella, and you lived on Fondamenta Bollani, 225! But you moved to Spain, and now, you've come back to Venice!"

Marina stared at Scipio as if he had just shown her proof of confirming the existence of extra-terrestrials.

"How'd you know all of that? You're far too old to be Scipio Massimo." She said quietly, almost as if she were contemplating.

"Well,..I,.." Scipio's voice trailed off. He thought for a second. How could he explain to her the carousel of the Merciful Sisters without needing to mention his career as "The Thief Lord?" He could trust her, he'd known her since they were both in diapers. But then her family had to move to Spain. He had thought about her everyday, but eventually became so occupied in his other life, that he didn't have time to think about anything.

"You...?" Marina asked.

"Well, why don't you tell me how you ended up here, crying in this lonely alley?" He replied, in an effort to stall, so he could find the best way to explain what had happened.

"Yes, well, You were right about my family coming back to Venice. My Father had finished up his business in a few years time, and so we decided to come back to Venice. However, my parents have been acting strange, and my father has been..." She stopped. Scipio could see a tear role down her face, nearly freezing at her chin it was so cold out.

"He started d-drinking!" she cried, tears were now streaming down her face like a waterfall of sadness.

"And he nearly killed my mom tonight! And she told me to run, but I wanted to help her! But she made me leave. I don't even know if she's ok now, or if she's..." At that, Marina fell into Scipio's arms. Scipio had never seen his childhood friend so troubled. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to comfort her. He decided right there what he was going to do.


	4. Confusion at Dawn

A/N: Now I'm going back to Prosper and the others, so don't get confused.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Prosper looked out the only window of the attic of Ida Spavento's house where he, Bo, and Hornet slept. It was the fifth night in a row he couldn't sleep. He was worried about school. It was difficult to learn things in a language he didn't know like the back of his hand. Sometimes, he would have to ask Hornet to explain the concepts they were learning, so he could understand more easily.

However, school wasn't the only reason Prosper couldn't sleep.

"Prosper?" Whispered a tired voice from across the attic.

Prosper turned around. He saw Hornet's sleepy eyes looking back at him.

"What are you doing out of bed? It's very late. And besides, we have to get up early tomorrow. We have school." Said Hornet, while she yawned and stretched her arms. Then she looked at the clock hanging on the wall across from her bed.

"Five Thirty!?" Yelled Hornet with a bit of anxiousness in her tone. "We have to get up now!"

"But I haven't gotten any sleep at all. It'd be better for me to just stay home then go to school and fall asleep during class." Wined Prosper.

"Well, I'm not the judge of that. You should ask Ida." Hornet replied, as she opened the door and rushed down the stairs.

As Scipio leaned against the cold damp wall, next to Marina, the two heard footsteps echoing through the alley. No one ever walked through here during the day, let alone in the middle of the night, so this sort of sound was very unusual.

"Is anyone there?" called the voice that belonged to the footsteps.

"That depends." Said Scipio. "If you aren't a carabiniere, then there is someone here, but if you are, I suggest that you turn around and walk away."

"Well, I'm not sure what a carabiniere is, but I'm fairly sure I'm not one." Answered the voice.

"Tourist." Muttered Scipio. "I suppose you can come here if you desire to."

Marina and Scipio looked at the strange figure that appeared out of the darkness. The moon reflected on his dirty blonde hair, and baby blue eyes. It wasn't just that he was very handsome, but he was also adorable, like a teddy bear.

"Will?" asked Marina, in a voice that mimicked Scipio's curiosity when he asked Marina if it was really her.

"Marina? What are you doing here? Oh wait, you used to live here and you moved back, after you went back to Spain." Said the boy who seemed to be named Will.

"Yes, Will, that's what happened." Said Marina. "Scipio, I want you to meet Will Goise."

"Could you explain how you know him?" Scipio demanded in an extremely curious way.

Marina took a deep breath and said, "It's a long story…"

A/N: It's a little bit longer, but it took me forever to write people, give me a break, I'm atleast TRYING to write longer chapters. (Cornelie Funke writes short chapters in her book, and nobody yells at her for it…so yeah…) Thanks for all the R-ing&R-ing!!! Sorry this chapter took so long. Mina

P.S. I'm probably going to change my pen name, you've been warned. 


	5. Childish Admittance

A/N: Hopefully, this chapter should turn out to be the longest.

"A lot has happened to me since I moved to Spain." Marina began. "I had decided to take up the violin, and in many people's eyes, I was quite good. As a result, my parents shipped me off on an airplane to America! To attend a prestigious public school in Maitland, Florida. That's where I met Will. It wasn't long until we realized, or, actually, I realized that I liked him as more than a friend. I was crushed whenever I would have to travel back to Spain during the summer, and even more so when I had to move back to Venice, even though I love it here. Will promised that he would meet me here. I had no idea he could have possibly come this soon. How on earth did you do it, Will?" She acquired, in thankful voice.

"I'm not sure. I just asked my parents if we could come here for a winter vacation, and to my surprise, they were very pleased with the idea. So now, I'm here, back with Marina, my first real crush."

Scipio seemed pleased with the idea of Marina and Will as a couple. They really were a good couple. They both used an abnormally proper way of speaking for their age. And they seemed to get a long very well, even though Scipio had only seen them together for roughly five minutes.

Marina got up and walked over to Will after a period of long silence. They embraced each other, with such care that many would have thought the two were brother and sister.

"Well, I have to be on my way you two. I'll keep in touch, or I'll try to." Said Scipio, as if he was hoping they would stop him.

Marina had apparently sensed this and replied back, "Oh, no you don't! You have a lot of explaining to do. It's best you get started."

Prosper rushed to put his clothes on. He and Hornet were running very late, and had no time to spare.

"Prosper, would you hurry up?! We don't have all day!" Hornet yelled form downstairs. She was ready to leave, and had been for some time, but Prosper hadn't gotten out of bed until five minutes ago.

"Just leave without me! I'll catch up!" Prosper yelled back. Bo was now assisting Prosper in tying his shoes, although he had no idea how to tie one. Once Prosper had gathered his schoolbooks, he noticed what Bo's handiwork had amounted to. A perfect bow, with 8 loops.

"Bo, how did you…" Started Prosper, but he had to stop to examine the phenomena more closely.

"It was easy I just took the strings and I tied them, then I tied them again, and then I tied them again. And then I tied them before I tied them the last time." Answered Bo, although he had just guessed at what Prosper's question would be.

"Bo, you're a genius." Said Prosper, as he rushed down the stairs and out the door without giving Bo's amazing talent another thought. He was just trying to catch up with Hornet.

"You rode on a magical carousel that made you grow older?" Asked Marina, with a completely skeptical look on her face. Will just stared at Scipio as if he were a nut-job.

"Yes, exactly." Scipio replied, as if his story were perfectly plausible.

"You're just too arrogant to admit that you grew 4 feet since I last saw you." Said Marina. "You're always like that. You always wanted to be an adult, but you couldn't even act like one most of the time."

"That's not true. In fact, I'm looking for the carousel so I can ride it again and become younger."

"Because you're a child on the inside, and you will be until you're married probably." Marina joked.

"I am not a child." Wined Scipio, in a childish voice.

"If you aren't a child, then why would you go and risk your life to find a stupid carousel to become a child?" Said Marina.

"Because." Replied Scipio.

"Because what?" Asked Marina.

"Because, I'm a child."

A/N: 700 Words! A new record!


	6. Signs, Shows, and Surprises

A/N: So Sorry I haven't updated in a while! We got a new computer, and I couldn't remember where I left off with the story, until many months later, my dad got our old files on the new computer:-P.

"Tartoof! Stop daydreaming and come work out this quadratic equation." Shrieked Ms. Catherine, the senile algebra teacher of Prosper and Hornet's new school - Tartoof was a name Ms. Catherine had adopted for Prosper, since she could never remember his name. – The rest of the dormant class snickered as Prosper slowly walked up to the board, and basically scribbled unknown shapes and symbols all over the place. He didn't mean it as a joke, or to be funny, he was just not thinking straight.

"Very good, Tartoof!" said the teacher. The answer is "A hehehe." At this, the class gawked in disbelief.

"Thanks Ms. Catherine." Prosper was still in disbelief that he had managed to get the problem right without even trying, or thinking for that matter.

Later that day, Hornet, Prosper, and Bo were walking home from school together. Prosper had recovered from his lethargic state after listening to Hornet's grand scheme, or so he referred to it as.

"Prosper, isn't it a great idea though? Being in the talent show would be a good way for us to make friends, and besides that, we would be able to go back to the Star Palace!"

"Why does the school want to reopen the Star Palace though? There are plenty of other places in town. It just seems sort of, fishy, you know?"

"Yes, I do know what you mean, but the whole idea seems completely innocent. It's not like the principal plans to pull a "Phantom of the Opera" and live in hidden passageways below the Star Palace, is it?" She replied, in a biting, sarcastic way.

"Well, we don't know for sure…" Prosper trailed off.

"Anyway, I think we should compete in the talent show in an act. I'm not exactly sure what we could do, but it would be fun, wouldn't it?" Inquired Hornet.

"I guess. Go ahead and sign me up. But, I just have one question for you; why do you want to do this so badly? It doesn't seem like you at all Hornet."

"I know, but I was thinking about getting involved in extra activities, and them my friend Gena from Science suggested that I should perform in the talent show. That's all."

"Okay." Said Prosper. "Just don't make us dress up in pink too-toos, doing ballet." Joked Prosper.

"Oh darn it, I'll have to think of something else!" She retaliated.

Scipio, Marina, and Will had started walking through the streets of Venice, on their quest for the Carousel of the Merciful Sisters. Scio was not at all sure how he had ended up inviting Marina and Will to join him on his search, but he didn't mind the company.

"Where exactly are we going to go, Scip?" asked Marina.

Scipio thought for a moment before answering.

"Why don't we look for a sign? Something to show us where to go." Answered Scipio.

"Seems logical." Said Will.

"I'd do the same thing." Said Marina.

At that very moment, the two children, and one child rapped in an adult's body looked up in the sky to see a large plane writing the words, "Carousel of the Merciful Sisters on display at the Smithsonian Institute in New York City. From the 21st to the 25th!

"That will do." Said the three children at once.

Sorry this chapter is a little short. I just really needed to update. I plan on getting the next chapter up before my spring break ends. Thanks for all the reviews!


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